Title: The Palm of Your Hand - The History of Humans
Lesson Overview
This lesson is meant to be a mostly informational lesson where key concepts are introduced to be explored more fully in later lessons, done through some lecture, powerpoint presentations, volunteer demonstrations, and video media. A great deal of the content that students will be responsible for in the unit test and later projects is introduced in this lesson. Among the topics introduced are classifications of primates and hominids, key identifying adaptations that make primates suited for arboreal life, bipedalism, and the names and evolutionary sequence of several extinct hominid species that were relatives of, and possible ancestors of, modern human beings.
Objectives
The student will identify stereoscopic vision, opposable thumbs, flexible limb joints, and grasping hands and feet as primate adaptations for arboreal life.
The student will identify several classes of primate, including strepsirrhines, haplorhines, anthropoids, New World and Old World monkeys, and hominoids.
The student will identify the appearance of bipedalism as a major adaptation that led to modern humans.
The student will become familiar with several extinct species of hominid, and be acclaimated with how these species fit into the evolutionary history of hominids.
The student will recognize paleoanthropology and DNA analysis as two methods of reconstructing human evolutionary history.
Materials
Science Journals
Two eyepatches
Tape
A soft ball for playing catch
The class will begin as usual with a science journal prompt. This prompt will read, "What methods have scientists used to get a picture of how humans evolved? If you're unsure, try to hypothesize what you would do to get a better picture of the human family tree. Also, what, if anything, do you know about the immediate family tree of our species, Homo Sapiens?" After several minutes (during which the instructor will take attendance and check outline 16.1 for homework completion), the instructor will discuss the prompt with the class. The instructor will introduce paleoanthropology and DNA analysis as the two major methods by which scientists have gotten a gradually more complete picture of the process of human evolution. It is likely that students will also mention Neanderthals and possibly "Lucy", the most famous example of the fossilized remains of Australopithicus afarensis.
Learning Activities
The instructor then will start a powerpoint presentation. It begins with a quote from Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh that states that living humans today are a reflection of their ancestors, and this can be seen by looking "deeply into the palm of your hand". Eventually I mean the students to take this just as literally as they do philosophically. The presentation will continue on to introduce the classifications of primates and hominids, bipedalism, and the names and features of several extinct hominid species that paleoanthropologists have discovered to construct a hominid family tree. During this presentation, students will take notes to supplement and inform the outline they had completed for homework.
Interjected into the presentation is a short demonstration involving two student volunteers. Both students will don eyepatches to cover one eye, thus losing their stereoscopic vision, and they will tape their thumbs together to their hand to prevent their use. They will then try to play catch with a small, soft ball, which will no doubt be difficult. This will demonstrate the importance to the two primate adaptations for arboreal life spoken of in the presentation - depth perception and an opposable thumb. The purpose of this interjection is twofold - first, to change the pace of the presentation so students remain engaged, and secondly to demonstrate the difficulties of day-to-day human activities without the adaptations of an opposable thumb and stereoscopic vision.
Also interjected into the presentation is a TED Talk by a geneticist named Spencer Wells, who is using DNA analysis to prove the "Out of Africa" theory and construct a human family tree. This is meant to give some background information on techniques in DNA analysis that help to complete the picture of where we as humans came from. Students will also take notes during this video.
Closing
At the conclusion of the powerpoint, the instructor will reiterate the quote in the presentation by Thich Nhat Hanh. The instructor will ask probing questions about this quote, such as: "Now that you have learned more about the specific adaptations humans exhibit, think about this quote again. Thinking about this as a scientist, or even as a philosopher, what have you realized?" The instructor will attempt to lead students to how the quote can be taken in both a philosophical manner as well as a literal one (opposable thumbs!). The human body is a history book of sorts on the past of our species.
The instructor will ask for any questions students might have at this time, and then introduce their homework of outlining section 16.2 in their textbooks.
Assessment
Assessment will be done formatively as questions fielded during the class period. The instructor will also check the students' science journals for understanding and possible misconceptions.
Homework
Students will outline section 16.2 in their textbooks for homework, which deals with human ancestry.
RATIONALE:
The practice of outlining the relevant sections in their text was established at the beginning of the year. As this is an advanced science class and most of these students plan to be college bound, the ability to read a text and synthesize pertinent information is an essential study skill.
Additional Notes
It is important to take volunteers during the demonstration portion of the lesson, as some students might be self conscious to begin with about their hand-eye coordination skills.
Unit: Human Evolution
Title: The Palm of Your Hand - The History of Humans
Lesson Overview
This lesson is meant to be a mostly informational lesson where key concepts are introduced to be explored more fully in later lessons, done through some lecture, powerpoint presentations, volunteer demonstrations, and video media. A great deal of the content that students will be responsible for in the unit test and later projects is introduced in this lesson. Among the topics introduced are classifications of primates and hominids, key identifying adaptations that make primates suited for arboreal life, bipedalism, and the names and evolutionary sequence of several extinct hominid species that were relatives of, and possible ancestors of, modern human beings.Objectives
The student will identify stereoscopic vision, opposable thumbs, flexible limb joints, and grasping hands and feet as primate adaptations for arboreal life.The student will identify several classes of primate, including strepsirrhines, haplorhines, anthropoids, New World and Old World monkeys, and hominoids.
The student will identify the appearance of bipedalism as a major adaptation that led to modern humans.
The student will become familiar with several extinct species of hominid, and be acclaimated with how these species fit into the evolutionary history of hominids.
The student will recognize paleoanthropology and DNA analysis as two methods of reconstructing human evolutionary history.
Materials
Science JournalsTwo eyepatches
Tape
A soft ball for playing catch
Links to Resources
Spencer Wells' TED Talk:http://www.ted.com/talks/spencer_wells_is_building_a_family_tree_for_all_humanity.html
Powerpoint presentation on Primate Evolution:
Safety Issues
None.Instruction
Opening
The class will begin as usual with a science journal prompt. This prompt will read, "What methods have scientists used to get a picture of how humans evolved? If you're unsure, try to hypothesize what you would do to get a better picture of the human family tree. Also, what, if anything, do you know about the immediate family tree of our species, Homo Sapiens?" After several minutes (during which the instructor will take attendance and check outline 16.1 for homework completion), the instructor will discuss the prompt with the class. The instructor will introduce paleoanthropology and DNA analysis as the two major methods by which scientists have gotten a gradually more complete picture of the process of human evolution. It is likely that students will also mention Neanderthals and possibly "Lucy", the most famous example of the fossilized remains of Australopithicus afarensis.
Learning Activities
The instructor then will start a powerpoint presentation. It begins with a quote from Zen Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh that states that living humans today are a reflection of their ancestors, and this can be seen by looking "deeply into the palm of your hand". Eventually I mean the students to take this just as literally as they do philosophically. The presentation will continue on to introduce the classifications of primates and hominids, bipedalism, and the names and features of several extinct hominid species that paleoanthropologists have discovered to construct a hominid family tree. During this presentation, students will take notes to supplement and inform the outline they had completed for homework.
Interjected into the presentation is a short demonstration involving two student volunteers. Both students will don eyepatches to cover one eye, thus losing their stereoscopic vision, and they will tape their thumbs together to their hand to prevent their use. They will then try to play catch with a small, soft ball, which will no doubt be difficult. This will demonstrate the importance to the two primate adaptations for arboreal life spoken of in the presentation - depth perception and an opposable thumb. The purpose of this interjection is twofold - first, to change the pace of the presentation so students remain engaged, and secondly to demonstrate the difficulties of day-to-day human activities without the adaptations of an opposable thumb and stereoscopic vision.
Also interjected into the presentation is a TED Talk by a geneticist named Spencer Wells, who is using DNA analysis to prove the "Out of Africa" theory and construct a human family tree. This is meant to give some background information on techniques in DNA analysis that help to complete the picture of where we as humans came from. Students will also take notes during this video.
Closing
At the conclusion of the powerpoint, the instructor will reiterate the quote in the presentation by Thich Nhat Hanh. The instructor will ask probing questions about this quote, such as: "Now that you have learned more about the specific adaptations humans exhibit, think about this quote again. Thinking about this as a scientist, or even as a philosopher, what have you realized?" The instructor will attempt to lead students to how the quote can be taken in both a philosophical manner as well as a literal one (opposable thumbs!). The human body is a history book of sorts on the past of our species.
The instructor will ask for any questions students might have at this time, and then introduce their homework of outlining section 16.2 in their textbooks.
Assessment
Assessment will be done formatively as questions fielded during the class period. The instructor will also check the students' science journals for understanding and possible misconceptions.Homework
Students will outline section 16.2 in their textbooks for homework, which deals with human ancestry.RATIONALE:
The practice of outlining the relevant sections in their text was established at the beginning of the year. As this is an advanced science class and most of these students plan to be college bound, the ability to read a text and synthesize pertinent information is an essential study skill.
Additional Notes
It is important to take volunteers during the demonstration portion of the lesson, as some students might be self conscious to begin with about their hand-eye coordination skills.